Ship Safety

Cruise ships are designed and operated in compliance with international and federal regulations specifically designed to maximize the safety of passengers and crew. All cruise ships visiting ports, no matter where they are flagged, must comply with applicable federal regulations.

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has a unique partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard through their Cruise Ship Center of Expertise in Miami. The U.S. Coast Guard has “the responsibility for ensuring that these ships meet all international conventions and domestic requirements for safety, security and environmental protection.” The U.S. Coast Guard conducts announced and unannounced safety inspections for every cruise ship that embarks passengers in U.S. ports.

U.S. Coast Guard inspections include conducting plan reviews of each cruise ship before construction is even started, inspecting the ship at the ship yard during construction, conducting a comprehensive initial Control Verification Examination upon delivery, and annually conducting a Certificate of Compliance examination (with quarterly reinspections) for compliance with both federal and international regulations. This oversight system means, for example, if the U.S. Coast Guard finds a cruise ship to be in violation of any required regulation or considers it unsafe in any way, the local Coast Guard Captain of the Port has the authority and responsibility to prevent passenger boarding or departure from a U.S. port with passengers onboard until those deficiencies are corrected.

Inspections focus on structural fire safety, proper functioning of all safety systems and equipment including fire fighting systems, lifesaving equipment and other safety systems such as the lifeboats, life rafts and lifejackets in addition to crew training and competence. Additionally, the U.S. Coast Guard observes fire and abandon ship drills conducted by the ships' crew, and requires satisfactory operational tests of key equipment such as steering systems, fire pumps and bilge pumps.

All cruise ships have lifeboats, life rafts and life preservers for every person on board with additional capacity in accordance with international regulation. SOLAS requires that lifeboats be capable of being loaded, launched and maneuvered away from the ship within 30 minutes of the Master's signal to abandon ship.

The average CLIA ship, of approximately 97,000 gross tons carrying approximately 2700 passengers and 800 crew, typically has five firefighting teams whose main members have advanced shipboard firefighting training, 4,000 smoke detectors, 500 fire extinguishers, 16 miles of sprinkler piping, 5,000 sprinkler heads and 6 miles of fire hose. Sprinklers and smoke detectors, as required by international regulation, are located throughout the ship.

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